Viktor Mykita: "Football during war has become a form of rehabilitation for defenders and a foundation for community development."
Ukraine beach soccer team defeated by Poland in qualifying match, still advances to playoffs
Today, on October 7, the Ukraine beach soccer team played their second match in the European qualifiers for the World Cup 2025, taking place in Cádiz, Spain.
In their opening match of the tournament, Mykola Kostenko's team achieved a resounding victory against Norway with a score of 8:2. Following Norway's defeat to Poland (1:6), our team qualified for the playoff stage of the qualifying tournament. However, today brought a stern test for the Ukrainians as they faced a much stronger opponent — Poland.
Unfortunately, the match did not go well for the Blue and Yellow team. After the first period, they found themselves trailing 0:4. The situation only worsened in the second 12-minute segment, with the score reaching 0:6.
It wasn't until the start of the third period that Oleg Zborovskyi managed to score, but this only slightly eased the bitter defeat. In the end, Ukraine lost to Poland with a score of 1:8.
The opponent for our team in the round of 16 of the European qualifiers will be determined tomorrow.
World Cup 2025 Qualifiers: European Qualifying. Group F
Ukraine — Poland — 1:8
Goals: Zborovskyi (25) — Karolyiak (5), Yesionovskii (6), Brokotskyi (11, 15, 35), Klopets (12), Bistula (23), Blashchik (28).
Ukraine: Nerush, Poslavskyi, Pazenko, Hlutskiy, M. Levchenko, A. Borsuk, Lystopad, I. Levchenko, Zborovskyi, Pashko, Sirenko, Ross.
Poland: Manka, Karolyiak, Poznyak, Urbanovych, Nisler, Haida, Fudala, Witkovskiy, Petrasyak, Brokotskyi, Yesionovskii, Klopets, Bistula, Blashchik.
Booked: Zborovskyi (11), A. Borsuk (28) — Petrasyak (12), Poznyak (14).
Standings
| Team | M | W | D | L | GD | P | |
| 1 | Poland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14—2 | 6 |
| 2 | Ukraine | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9—10 | 3 |
| 3 | Norway | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3—14 | 0 |
2025 Beach Soccer World Cup. European Qualifiers. Group Stage
Group A: Spain, Azerbaijan, England, Georgia.
Group B: Italy, Czechia, Denmark.
Group C: Portugal, Germany, Estonia, Kazakhstan.
Group D: Belarus, Moldova, Belgium.
Group E: Switzerland, France, Lithuania, Malta.
Group F: Ukraine, Poland, Norway.
The top 16 teams will advance to the Round of 16 – the top two teams from each group and the four best third-placed teams.
Winners of the Round of 16 will then form two new groups of four, with the top two teams from each group securing a spot in the World Cup. The final day of the qualifiers will feature placement matches to determine rankings.
The Round of 16, second group stage, and placement matches will be held from October 9 to 13.
The next Beach Soccer World Cup will take place in Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, on the island of Mahé, from May 1 to 11, 2025.
